Murray Seymour has been awarded the 2020 Watershed District Builder Award.
The annual award “… recognizes the outstanding contributions of individuals directly associated with the growth and success of watershed districts in Manitoba.”
Seymour was named this year’s recipient during the Manitoba Association of Watershed Districts virtual conference, held Dec. 8.
“My greatest reward was being chair of Manitoba Conservation District Association and working with all the districts to help secure this much-needed program for our future,” Seymour said in a prepared news release.
Seymour was appointed to the Pembina Valley Conservation District (PVCD) in 1995 by the Rural Municipality of Pembina, and continued on until his retirement in December of 2019.
He served as the Lizard Lake subdistrict chair, and eventually acted as board chair of the PVCD, and continued to serve in this capacity until the new watershed districts were formed in December 2019.
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Seymour has also been a member of the Pembina River Basin Advisory Board, as well as being the PVCD’s representative in the Manitoba Conservation District Association, MCDA (now Manitoba Association of Watershed Districts) for many years. He served on different committees such as the conference committee, main board executive (2008-10) and was the chair of the MCDA from 2011 to 2013.
While serving as the chair of the MCDA, Seymour was also a member of the Conservation District Commission at the Manitoba legislature.
Seymour realized the potential of the conservation district program and the value of water retention for landowners early on.
Over the years, the PVCD has built many retention structures to help keep back some of the water to protect infrastructure and supply water to local landowners. Seymour said he always felt they should hold back as much water as they could on the land to protect us all in the dry years.
